How to Make Cherry Jam

When my sister invited me to pick cherries at her place, I had to convince myself that I wanted them. Cherry jam became the reason to pick, because it lasts beyond the season, and several of us love toast with jam. With no family tradition of jam making and nothing in my 1993 Better Homes cookbook, I turned to the internet. Internet friend Stephany and David Lebovitz became my points of reference on...

How to Make Cherry Jam.

First you want to wear dark clothes, as in black, even if you wear an apron. You may also want dark kitchen towels. Start with a large cooking spoon, clean jars with seals and lids, two lemons, a zester and reamer, white sugar, cherries, almond extract, a small pot for cooking, and a large pot for the jars and lids.

Fill the large pot with water and stand the jars and lids in it. Simmer until ready.







1. Pick cherries. We've kept them covered in the refrigerator for up to a week.







2. Clean and pit them while wearing your dark clothes. Endure bad cherry-related jokes from the seven year old. You can use a knife or a cherry pitter. Some stones will have "dirt" on them. Not the dark color you get from air exposure, but dirt. The dirt is probably frass. Throw those cherries away. Chop the cherries that you saved. We used a food processor.


3. Dump pitted cherries in a pot.


4. Zest and juice two lemons. Add to pot. Cook until cherries and lemon juice mush up.


5. Measure the contents of the pot. Put it back in the pot.


6. Add [0.75 x (lemons and cherries measurement)] sugar to the pot. Example: for four cups of cherry mush, add 3 cups of sugar [(0.75 x 4 cups) = 3 cups]. Stir. Put a white plate in the freezer. Cook cherry mush over high heat.

7. Look for foam. Stephany says this is the natural pectin. I liken this part to candy-making. The bubbles will not subside when you stir. They are smaller and paler in color than the bubbles in the next stage. Keep cooking.






8. Watch for the foam to subside to big, non-foamy bubbles. Stephany likens this stage to syrup. The jam should coat a spoon, but not in a watery way. My grandmother's 1953 Better Home cookbook mentions a test of a spoon coated with two drops, but I didn't see that happen and everyone who has tried our jam likes it. (Maybe we like undercooked jam?)




9. Remove pot from heat. Spoon a little bit of jam on the plate. Freeze for a few minutes. Give a nudge test -- (See Lebovitz's awesome photo in the above link.) if the jam wrinkles, it is done. If not, cook a couple more minutes. Test again until it is ready. (FYI, I licked the plate when I was done.)




10. Put a couple drops of almond extract in the jam. Stir.





11. Get a jar and lid from the pot of warm water. Wipe them dry. Ladle jam into jar. Clean the jar if needed. Put the seal in place. Screw on the lid. Cool on the counter. Enjoy "summer in a jar." Appreciate the high price of gourmet jams.

I am glad we picked cherries! Thanks, Sis.

Wristers done

Update: The wristers are done. When we stayed in Wisconsin, we came in most nights once darkness fell. We read, played cards, and knitted until bedtime. In this photo, "I" of GAIN reads while wearing her jammies and wristers. "A" of GAIN also made a pair of wristers in a rib pattern, a nice stretchy feature. She made them long, which is a very nice feature, and they are dark blue, another nice feature. For some reason, we have no photos, even though she wore them. I was happy that she didn't need any help making them.

Veni, vidi, vici. My sister invited us to pick from her one cherry tree. We came home with a minimum of three gallons of cherries last Thursday.

I came, I saw, I conquered. The kids and I left the tree empty on the bottom half. Of course, my siblings had already picked a lot in the days beforehand.

After pitting for hours (thank you to my business partner for lending the cherry pitter), I have since made cherry-rhubarb crisp, crumb-topped cherry pie, and cherry jam. I was most interested in jam, as I am not real hip on cherry desserts. I think I had too many doses of slimy, overly-thick cherry pie fillings as a child. The homemade cherry desserts have been OK.

In addition to being very interested in cherry jam, I was very nervous about it. I had no experience canning, and it seemed intimidating. I remember having paraffin-topped jars of jam, but the extension offices scream about health hazards with paraffin. So I knew I needed something else, since my family didn't have advice for me. An internet homeschool friend sent a recipe, which I also found at this site, that seemed do-able for a newbie like me.

I scoured my house for canning jars. I have always saved jars because I like the way they look. I had window sills full of glassware when we lived in Ames. I found more bands than lids, and more lids than jars. I now have two jars of rockin' cherry jam, made by myself. I have since bought more lids (seals) and boosted my canning confidence infinitely. I am learning all the time, loving it, and wanting to continue my learning.